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London’s 3 Meter Micro Cube House Produces More Energy than it Consumes

This carbon neutral Cube House developed by the University of Hertfordshire, England is a little house with some big ideas. Measuring a scant 3x3x3 meters, the home is a three-dimensional puzzle that packs a unique living space with off-the-shelf technology to create a micro footprint. The home’s advanced features keep energy consumption to a minimum, making the small roof-top solar array large enough to feed the grid more energy that the home consumes. The home is more than just an experiment in design however -- Dr. Mike Page, the coordinator of the Cube House is very much interested in learning the physiological implications of high-quality, low-impact micro housing.

The design is very simple on the outside, but the interior is another story. The ingenious layout manages to fit a full range of amenities within a shrunken floor plan. Three levels stack the living spaces upwards and provide storage for personal items and equipment. The heart of the floor plan is a very interesting alternating tread system, which saves space and allows access to the floors above with a minimalist design flair.

The lower portion contains a seating arrangement and table that can slide back and forth for lounging or dining. A generous kitchen is located a few steps up. Low-energy and space-saving appliances like an inductive stovetop, a super-efficient refrigerator and a combination oven and microwave don’t skimp of the opportunities to cook up a storm. Water and the space are heated with an efficient air-to-air split-system heat pump.

A full-sized shower and composting toilet are located across from the kitchen. The funky-looking pedestal in the middle is actually a step up to the nearly queen-sized bed set above the living room.

The interior is finished with FSC-certified birch plywood, and English Sweet Chestnut clads the cubed exterior. The structure also incorporates a range of other green materials — cork flooring, wool fabric, sustainable wood, and triple-paned windows.

The building is capped with a shed roof and a 1.48 kW solar array which, although modest in size, still makes enough energy to sell back to the grid. In fact, the system will gets 1,000 pounds back each year for 20 years as part of Britain’s feedback tariff program.

As a professor in Psychology, Dr. Page studies “deal(ing) with problems that are as much psychological problems as they are technological problems… if we are to mitigate the problems of climate change.”

9 thoughts on “London’s 3 Meter Micro Cube House Produces More Energy than it Consumes”

I cringe at houses like this, mostly because they are not accessible. I have a 320 square foot house, that does fit two wheelchairs and is energy efficient. Please, as we get into these tiny houses, think about access! (I have chronicled my search for accessible tiny houses --see access a hut.) But surely the hot water heater and under materials did not need such an odd stair step arrangement.

Fascinating design. This could help solve homlessness. Imagine a a housing project with these units that the tenant could rent. Provides low cost housing and pays for itself by selling the energy back to the city. It's win-win.

Thanks Andrew. Very thought provoking. I'm imagining a remote hut or an inner city pad on a rented parking space. In most of New Zealand, buildings under 10m2 don't require a building permit. Of course plumbing would require a permit, but my composting toilet didn't.

@dim I think all your questions are answered in the post. The third slide shows how the some of the space below the kitchen is used, there is also a hot water tank and composting toilet as well a storage, no space is wasted.
Heat pumps are just that, they transfer heat from the interior and the exterior so there is a coil (heat exchanger) on either side of the wall.

it's an interesting concept but there are some quirky thing. don't really get why the kitchen is needed to be up on a raised platform. the space below the kitchen seems to be wasted.
not to be picky but this is not a 3x3x3 cube. the wood sided part is 3x3x3 but there is the sloped part above. jsut because it's painted black doesn't mean it can be ignored. also the ehat pump is mounted on the outside.

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Slideshow

London's 3 Meter Micro Cube House Produces More Energy than it Consumes

This carbon neutral Cube House developed by the University of Hertfordshire, England is a little house with some big ideas. Measuring a scant 3x3x3 meters, the home is a three-dimensional puzzle that packs a unique living space with off-the-shelf to a a

Cube House (11)

1 of 13

This carbon neutral Cube House developed by the University of Hertfordshire, England is a little house with some big ideas. Measuring a scant 3x3x3 meters, the home is a three-dimensional puzzle that packs a unique living space with off-the-shelf technology to create a micro footprint. The home’s advanced features keep energy consumption to a minimum, making the small roof-top solar array large enough to feed the grid more energy that the home consumes. The home is more than just an experiment in design however -- Dr. Mike Page, the coordinator of the Cube House is very much interested in learning the physiological implications of high-quality, low-impact micro housing.

The design is very simple on the outside, but the inside is another story.

Cube House (3)

2 of 13

The design is very simple on the outside, but the inside is another story.

The ingenious layout manages to fit a full range of amenities within a shrunken floor plan. Three levels stack the living spaces upwards and provide storage for personal items and equipment.

Cube House (9)

3 of 13

The ingenious layout manages to fit a full range of amenities within a shrunken floor plan. Three levels stack the living spaces upwards and provide storage for personal items and equipment.

The heart of the floor plan is a very interesting alternating tread system, which saves space and allows access to the floors above with a minimalist design flair.

Cube House (10)

4 of 13

The heart of the floor plan is a very interesting alternating tread system, which saves space and allows access to the floors above with a minimalist design flair.

The lower portion contains a seating arrangement and table that can slide back and forth for lounging or dining.

Cube House (5)

5 of 13

The lower portion contains a seating arrangement and table that can slide back and forth for lounging or dining.

Cube House (6)

Low-energy and space-saving appliances like an inductive stovetop, a super-efficient refrigerator and a combination oven and microwave don’t skimp of the opportunities to cook up a storm.

Cube House (2)

7 of 13

Low-energy and space-saving appliances like an inductive stovetop, a super-efficient refrigerator and a combination oven and microwave don’t skimp of the opportunities to cook up a storm.

A full-sized shower and composting toilet are located across from the kitchen. Water and the space are heated with an efficent air-to-air split-system heat pump.

Cube House (1)

8 of 13

A full-sized shower and composting toilet are located across from the kitchen. Water and the space are heated with an efficent air-to-air split-system heat pump.

The funky-looking pedestal in the middle is actually a step up to the nearly queen-sized bed set above the living room.

Cube House (13)

9 of 13

The funky-looking pedestal in the middle is actually a step up to the nearly queen-sized bed set above the living room.

The interior is finished with FSC-certified birch plywood, and English Sweet Chestnut clads the cubed exterior.

Cube House (7)

10 of 13

The interior is finished with FSC-certified birch plywood, and English Sweet Chestnut clads the cubed exterior.

The structure also incorporates a range of other green materials -- cork flooring, wool fabric, sustainable wood, and triple-paned windows.

Cube House (12)

11 of 13

The structure also incorporates a range of other green materials -- cork flooring, wool fabric, sustainable wood, and triple-paned windows.

The building is capped with a shed roof and a 1.48 kW solar array which, although modest in size, still makes enough energy to sell back to the grid. In fact, the system will gets 1,000 pounds back each year for 20 years as part of Britain's feedback

Cube House (8)

12 of 13

The building is capped with a shed roof and a 1.48 kW solar array which, although modest in size, still makes enough energy to sell back to the grid. In fact, the system will gets 1,000 pounds back each year for 20 years as part of Britain's feedback tariff program.

As a professor in Psychology, Dr. Page studies “deal(ing) with problems that are as much psychological problems as they are technological problems… if we are to mitigate the problems of climate change.”

Cube House (4)

13 of 13

As a professor in Psychology, Dr. Page studies “deal(ing) with problems that are as much psychological problems as they are technological problems… if we are to mitigate the problems of climate change.”